O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?
(1 Corinthians 15:55 NLT)

Some say that all fear comes from the fear of death.  Whether you are rich or poor, great or small, we all have to deal with the last great enigma, death.  Jesus Christ gave us victory once and for all over the fear of death. 

2020 has brought the scourge of COVID-19 on the whole Earth.  Non-religious people are praying. The fear of death has changed the way that we live.  Our mortality, which in normal times we often ignore, now is impossible to escape.  We awaken in the morning, thinking it is only a bad dream, and realize that it is not. 

The solution to our dilemma is not to deny reality.  The Bible says, “it is appointed for men to die once” (Hebrews 9:27 NASB), but that is not the end of the story.  The Bible also says that just as Jesus was raised from the dead, so shall we be (1 Corinthians 4:14).  This is our great hope. 

In this life, I have some anxieties, but the fear of death is not one of them.  Death is not the enemy for a Christian.  Fear that takes away our peace is the enemy.  The Apostle Paul tells us that neither life nor death can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38).  The remedy for our fear is the love of God. 

I am seventy-four years old with some underlying health conditions.  If I were not a believer in Christ, I would be terrified.  If you have trusted in Christ’s saving grace, when your head hits the pillow tonight, you might want to say: “O death, where is your victory.  O death, where is your sting.” 

I worked for seventeen years as a missionary with Youth With A Mission.  My missionary work has taken me to Mexico, Canada, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Spain, and Ukraine.  I hold a Masters of Education in curriculum and instruction from Virginia Commonwealth University.  [email protected]